Rest in peace Red Daniels

RIP: Red Daniels

By Kevin Hunsperger

@kevinhunsperger & @my123cents on Twitter

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Stride Pro Wrestling's first ever Buried Alive match lived up to all the hype. The show was fantastic top to bottom. You'll get a full recap of the show on Monday's My 1-2-3 Cents the Podcast (it drops around 1 a.m.) Today though I want to talk about the main event.

The Buried Alive match pitted heated rivals Red Daniels and Chris Hargas against each other. There was little "wrestling" involved in this contest as it was a fight. It sounds cliche but it was a fight for life in this case. The match is only won when one man gets dumped into the grave and covered in dirt and rendered unable to continue.

Red gets a cart
Courtesy: Jamie Myers

There were tables, chairs and even a Target shopping cart involved in this match. Red was hip tossed on a table while the two were still fighting in the ring. I can't remember if the shopping cart came next, but Red rustled one up from the backstage area. Remember, the Stride Pro Wrestling Arena is housed inside the Illinois Star Centre Mall so anything can be found and used as a weapon.

At one point when Chris was down and out, Red stacked several chairs near the site of the grave. I don't know what his plans were, I'm not sure he knew either. But there were so many fans in attendance, spare chairs were at a minimum and Red bullied some paying customers out of their seats. But that move burned Red as Hargas speared him through on the chairs.

Cross face
Courtesy: Jamie Myers

The action eventually made it onto the set of the grave. The tide seemed to turn when Red dropped Hargas off the stage and through a table. Hargas was then hoisted back up to the gravesite and dropped into the hole. Both men fought and Hargas eventually slapped a cross face on Red, rendering him unconscious. Red's limp body was rolled into the grave and Hargas started covering him in the dirt.

Hargas wins
Courtesy: Jamie Myers

Then in one of the most memorable moments of the match, Red's hands popped up and grabbed a hold of Hargas' legs. Hargas looked panicked for a moment, but then remembered he was holding a shovel and hit Red in the head, knocking him out for the final time. The dirt started flying and it was clear Red was done. Referee Lane Austin called for the bell and Hargas was declared the winner.

My sincere congratulations to both men. They told an amazing story for several months leading up to the big matchup. They did not disappoint as the clashed for roughly 30 minutes in front of more than 320 cheering wrestling fans. I don't know what's next as this chapter has closed for Hargas and the book has ended on the short, but successful career of Red Daniels.

Check out Stride Pro Wrestling's Facebook page and get a closer look at the live stream of the match. It's the first of its kind in indy wrestling (at least that I know of) and Red Daniels and Chris Hargas deserve to be praised for their efforts. 

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